Portland Aquarium co-owner arrested for the second time in a week

The co-owner of the Portland Aquarium was arrested Tuesday for the second time in less than a week after federal prosecutors contend he attempted to arrange destruction of information related to his case.

Ammon Covino, who owns the Portland Aquarium south of Milwaukie with his brother, was arrested last week in Boise on charges of illegally harvesting marine animals for a similar facility there. Covino was arrested Feb. 21 and released later that day on a $100,000 bond.

Covino, president of the Idaho Aquarium in Boise, and a business associate, Christopher Conk, are accused of buying six marine animals for about $6,300 without proper permits and arranging to have them transported to the Boise facility. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of illegal purchase of wildlife. Each count is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

Federal prosecutors said that on the night of Covino's arrest he directed his 20-year-old nephew, Peter Covino IV, to call a Florida business "and destroy certain information relating to a recent order Covino placed for undersized and illegal nurse sharks" that were scheduled to go to the Idaho Aquarium.

A criminal complaint filed Monday in Florida alleges that Peter Covino called a second time asking the person in Florida to erase email and text messages from Covino. "He (Covino) wanted me to call you back and tell you to .. if you have any questions to look up Ammon Covino on Google, and it will tell you everything you need to know."

View full sizeMembers feed the sharks and rays at the Portland Aquarium during its opening in DecemberThomas Boyd/The Oregonian

Peter Covino was also arrested Tuesday in Idaho and is charged with obstruction of justice. He's set to appear in a federal court in Florida on March 15.

As a condition of his release last week, Ammon Covino agreed not to commit any crimes. Prosecutors allege that Covino's communication with his nephew violates the conditions of his pre-trial release, a matter that will go before a federal judge in Boise on Friday. The judge could revoke Ammon Covino's bond and order him incarcerated until he appears in Florida federal court, also on March 15.

While the charges against Covino mostly center on the Idaho Aquarium, court documents say he also tried to illegally acquire lemon sharks for the Portland Aquarium in October, when it was still under construction.

Vince Covino, co-owner and Ammon's brother, told The Oregonian last week that there are no lemon sharks at the Portland facility.